Peters



7 Y UNI ED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

OTHELLO SUTPHEN, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 268,959, dated December 12, 1882:

Application filed April 22, I882.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OTHELLO SUTPHEN, of.

Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Fire-Escape, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in fire-escapes; and it consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts inall the figures.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved fire-escape applied to a building, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the fire-escape and section of the wall of a building.

A represents the wall of a building, near the top of which is an opening, B, of suitable size and form for the purposes of my improved fireescape; or it may be an ordinary window or a passage of any approved form or arrangement over the top of the wall and onto the roof, where a reel, 0, is located by journals D in bearings E, attached to the wall, as, here shown, or to the roof, in any manner to support said reel, so that the chains F of 'a fireescape ladder may be wound on and off said reel in and out of the window or other opening or over the top of the wall, to be'rolled up on the reel out of the way when not wanted for use, and to be pulled or otherwise letdown quickly to the ground when wanted for use. The reel will have a hand-wheel, R, or a crank for turning it. The ladder consists of the aforesaid chains F and metal step-rods Gr, connected together as shown, or in any approved way, to form a fireproof ladder.

The plan here shown for connecting the steps and the chains consists of inserting the ends of the rods through the links of the chains and securing them by a check-nut, H, each side of the links; but they may be otherwise connected and secured.

I represents the struts at the ground or a little above to project the ladder outward for inclining it, so as to make it easier to climb;

also, for drawing it taut, for steadiness, andalso to swing it clear of fire issuing from the (N0 model.)

windows. The said struts are pivoted to the wall at J, and braces K are arranged in connection with them for applying tension to the ladder, the braces being pivoted to the wall at L and bearing at their lower ends on the notched sections M of the struts, so that the chains are tightened by bearing the outer ends of the struts down and secured by the braces falling backward in the notches.

The ladder is made readily attachable to the struts by the projecting ends N of the lower step, G, and the notches made for said. projections in the under sides of the struts; but any other approved method of which the connection can be readily made may be used.

P represents the wire employed to draw the ladder off from the reel and out of the window, or over the top of the wall when the reel is located on the root, and the dotted lines on reel, Fig. 2, show the position of the ladder when the ladder is stored upon the reel preparatory for use when required.

It will be seen that with a ladder of this kind the top of the highest buildings may be scaled readily by the firemen, and it also forms the means of escape as well.

To enable persons to reach the ladder from lower windows, the tension may be slackened temporarily by the braces K and struts I, so that the upper part of the ladder will fall against the wall, and the ladder may be tight ened again after the persons are mounted upon it for steadying it, and also for swinging it beyond the fire issuing from lower windows.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new,.and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a fire-escape ladder, F G, suspended from the upper part of the wall of a building, of struts 1, pivoted to the wall at their inner ends and engaging with the ladder at their opposite ends, substantially as described.

' 2. The combination, with a fire-escape ladder, F Gr, suspended from the upper part of the wall of a building, of the struts I, pivoted to the wall at their inner ends and engaging with the ladder at their outer ends, and braces 2 assess the wall A, and provided with notches M and ing detachably connected by the extensions N braces K, also pivoted to the wall, with achainof the ladder and the notches in the struts, Io ladder, F G, suspended from the upper partsubstantially as set forth.

of the wall of a building, substantially as described i OIHELLO SUTPHEN.

4. The chain-ladder FG, suspended as de- Witnesses: scribed, struts I, and braces K, pivoted to the WM. 13. BORST,

wall, as described, said ladder and struts be- LUTHER J. ROBINSON. 

